Friday, August 24, 2012

Mr Bakes' Beautiful Kitchen

As soon as I arrived in the kitchen and started hyperventilating, Mary...the chief administrator of the whole house (from planning the whole thing, to co-ordinating the designers, to the day to day management of the whole spectacular)... said Mr Bakes, the kitchen designer, was in town so she'd give him a call. Before I could take my next melodramatic breath, he arrived and answered my 4 hundred questions about his beautiful space.

The entire kitchen, from design to implementation, was created by Mr Bakes' company... 'Bakes and Company'. All the cabinetry was custom, hand-painted maple. See why I couldn't breathe? It featured solid walnut drawer fronts and curved walnut veneered side panels on the island benches.

All the nickel cabinetry hardware was custom made by Mr Bakes. Yep, 'Bakes and Company' custom polished nickel handles and knobs. It gets better....Mr Bakes' company also created all the accessories!.... and all the beautiful copper cookware, which is manufactured locally on Long Island, under the brand 'Bakes by Design'. My post travel depression gets worse when I discuss such matters... custom design, local manufacturing, exquisite workmanship. Sigh.

The wooden bench-tops were a natural oiled walnut, oiled using a food safe organic oil, allowing for the counter to be used as a food preparation area... and also allowing for ease of repair. Marks and scratches can be lightly sanded and spot refinished with oil, no need to re-sand the complete surface. Genius.

Digressing... I have to say that, if this was my beloved kitchen, there is no way I would be using these masterpiece bench-tops for any food prep at all. I'd use the other thousand metres of marble benchspace to chop my zucchinis.

Anyway, the walnut counters should be re-oiled once a month or so for maintenance.

The splashback was designed by Mr Bakes himself and custom made for him by 'New Ravenna' (of course!) It's natural stone, chosen from a colour palette to resonate with the kitchen. Mr Bakes' concept drawing was converted by computer to cut stone mosaic pieces, laid out in the factory in one mat and then supplied to the project in approximately 16 sheets for fixing.

Solid walnut drawer fronts.

I could cry.

The range area counter tops were Quartzite, a slightly harder surface than marble..... and ideal for either side of the range.

Spectacular.

Hand painted maple.

Look at the finish! Perfection.

Mr Bakes asked what we used for our kitchen finishes in Australia. I told him how popular 2 pak is. He asked what 2 pak was and when I told him about the whole polyeurythane thing and the spray on situation, I could see him shudder slightly. He was such a gentleman, he didn't have to use any words to express his slight disbelief.

"Life is so different back here", she said in her haze of post travel depression.

I picked the lights were from Circa Lighting, even before I stepped foot in the kitchen.

I chatted with Mr Bakes about the whole pricing of a kitchen setup like this one. Let's just put it this way, if this kitchen was created here in Australia, it would be at least double the price that it cost over yonder... and that includes the appliances. :(

The kitchen opened out into another delightful sitting room, furnished by 'Old Town Crossing'.

Looking back, you can see how this room then flowed back into 'The Den', by 'Kate Singer Home', that I featured here on Monday.

I loved this kitchen. It was edgy, with contemporary accents on a traditional base. Years ahead of trend.

What do you think? Could you see yourself washing up your good glasses in that gorgeous sink? I can!

Oh dear!!!! I love most of it I am just not mad about it all together!!!! But then I am not a fan of dark timbers and have recently spent days panting the timber side panels in my kitchen!!!Loved the taps and the sink but think they will probably be well out of my budget!!!Interesting about the quality of the work when you see what we get here but it is also possible that the inhabitants of the Hamptons can afford it!!!! I'm looking forward to the rest of your closer looks at this house! xx

My favourites are the lights and the dining chairs - love that stainless steel butler's sink too. I was going to do that in our kitchen, but they were too expensive here. Tell me, now that you've seen a designer show house in person, do the rooms all flow well from one to another, despite the fact that they are all by different designers and therefore completely different styles, looks and colour schemes - or does the house look a bit disjointed and uncoordinated as a result? Always wondered....

Totally disjointed Melinda. They don't flow...... as every designer is just so, so different. There is no common theme. It's like a museum.. or different showrooms. Well that's how I feel anyway. You have to take each room in the spirit of the designer's creativity. Take it in it's own context. The bedrooms upstairs were RADICAL! ... deliciously gorgeous.... but so, so different! A-M xx

Funny, I am like Jules, like it all but not so much together, I wonder if that reflects what we are used to, also Australians seem to be less flamboyant than Americans too? I would love the splashback with a a plain bench top. So awesome you got to talk with Mr Bates, would have been amazing!

Thank you so much for posting all of this A-M! I found it fascinating. I am so interested by the way a lot of bespoke high-end US kitchens combine so many different elements in the one space. (Mick De Giulio is a genius at this). I think here in Australia, we are so accustomed to having everything very "matchy matchy" - that to many here this would look quite disparate. It is just what we are used to, I guess (in our current kitchen renovation, people are even surprised I am combing two bench-top materials!) I am just in awe of the quality and attention to detail. I can't say I personally love the splash-back, but always love seeing a designer do something bold. Better than being dull!Thank you again - keep these posts coming! x

I see he uses Marble aswell as Walnut which are both materials that need a great deal of upkeep. Did Mr Bakes talk about the properties of Marble and how it is easier or harder to look after at all A-M? I loooove the look of Marble but see it in display homes and see the hammering it takes.I love that splash back and would use it in a heartbeat.....

holy flipping flip - that was AH-MAZING. i don't know how you managed to get on the plane home, i'd be still sitting in the kitchen salivating! gorgeous pics A-M, and thanks for sharing all the details. Beautiful, Beautiful x

I really like the sink & the bench under the window, love the tapware, cabinetry, bench tops but I just can't get my head around the splashback. Way too busy. So ... how much would that kitchen cost???

Just catching up, going back through your blog entries and I'm so happy to hear your news. :)

This kitchen? *Mostly* lovely but I'm afraid I find that splashback really jarring on the eye and suspect it would be a pain to try and keep clean of grime, dust and little splashes from cook pots. I also love the look of natural wood but I know that while I may start off with the best of intentions here, I'd soon tire of the whole rigmarole of oiling the walnut benches every month. I like to swab down/steam clean my kitchen ...and then walk away.

And your most recent post - beautiful. I've often thought that from about 1960ish we seemed to forget that house design benefits from a little touch of detail here and there. This was undoubtedly a cost issue, but a terrible shame as we've been left with swathes of fairly characterless urban landscape. It's lovely to see all this detail. Equally, I do enjoy hearing how you think house design down to the nth degree. It's these details that make a house a joy to live in - somewhere that makes you smile inside every time you come home.

And (!) ... I personally would love to hear the kookaburra laughs and cockatoo calls in the leafy peace of a Brisbane park near dawn. :)